The Fault In Our Stars?

If you’ve been feeling like you’re drowning lately, take heart! With all the Piscean energy in the sky recently, it’s no wonder that any of us feel we simply can’t muster up either the energy or the consciousness to move ahead with purpose…

However, this Virgo Full Moon comes along to remind us that we can CHOOSE to believe several things:

From chaos comes clarity

Surrender doesn’t mean giving up

The role we play doesn’t have to be forever

This Virgo Full Moon opposes not only the Sun, but also Neptune, & by polarity Mercury, Venus, and wounded healer Chiron in Pisces, the sign of the fishes.These polar opposite signs involving the two luminaries–the Sun (ego) and the Moon (heart)–alert us to the fact that dreaming and fantasizing are fine, as long as we don’t lose ourselves in that realm forever…

Neptune-ruled Pisces is represented by two fish yoked together and attempting to swim in different directions: one back toward source energy; the other out in the world into this thing we call life…

An inherent dichotomy arises when we’re unsure of in which direction to place our energy. Do we heed the siren’s call to swim back into the protective womb, where life is easy and all our needs are miraculously automatically met? Or do we venture bravely out into the scary unknown that we call life?

The potential for confusion is easily understandable, no? Regardless, the answer, as always, lies with the integration of these two archetypal energies.

This Virgo Full Moon reminds us that swimming “home,” back to whence from which we came, has its dangers. It keeps us dependent, infantile, and addicted to the blissful not-knowing-ness of the womb where when hungry we were fed, when tired we slept, and we didn’t have to be responsible for any damn thing!

It’s for this reason Pisces archetypal energy can manifest in intangible or the blurriest of ways. Often, it’s behind any confusion, illusion, or delusion we may experience that drives us to drink, drug, sleep, eat, or in any other way “check out” of our painful mundane reality via such self-soothing “remedies.”

However, this Virgo Full Moon tells us there’s another way! It infuses a dose of reality into our world.

How?

The Virgo archetype is about discernment—the kind that reminds us the devilis in the details, and that the overall forest is comprised of individual trees.

Recently, we may have felt like we’re looking at an impressionist painting up close, where individual brush strokes seem disconnected from the whole, and therefore make no sense.

But, wait! Take a step back, and another, and another, and if you do, slowly it can all come into focus at this Virgo Full Moon—and you’ll be able to see t hemarvelous Renoir water scene, beautiful Cezanne landscape, or colorfully busy Seurat picnic in the park!

What’s required here is FOCUS in order to become cognizant of both sides of these polar opposite archetypal energies. And where we choose to put our focus is up to us. In other words, it’s always a matter of choice…

For example, we can choose to remain stuck in the Piscean realm where we feel like we’re drowning & helpless, find fault in our stars–or we can focus our energy on the knowledge that this is simply one energetic end of a wide-ranging spectrum.

Give It Up…

All of this Piscean energy opposite the Virgo Full Moon asks us to lift our heads up and look around. It signals that, while we may experience confusion, despair, fatigue, and/or depression, that maybe, just maybe, we can have our cake and eat it too…

…but there’s a price, and that comes in the form of deciding what we must give up…since deciding what needs to go can be a difficult question to answer, let me break it down at bit:

First and foremost, this Virgo Full Moon reminds us that playing either the victim or the martyr won’t work. And that’s mostly because both of these roles involve too much, er, EGO…

When Pisces energy is involved, a victim’s ego can be wrapped up with her myopia; her inability to see the forest from the trees, to not be able to make out the impressionist painting’s overall scene. Thus, her pain becomes most important–her feelings of abandonment, righteous indignation or rage, grief, depression, etc.–take precedence over everything else.

Am I victim-bashing here? No, I’m merely pointing out that one can don the clothing of “victim” and mire oneself in despair to the point where one feels hopeless. It’s then we may cease to take matters into our own hands, and instead choose to blame another or others for injustices done to us.

“Take your life in your own hands, and what happens?A terrible thing: no one to blame.” ~ Erica Jong

The Virgo Full Moon reminds us that its energy can add earthy stability through healthy daily—or regular–rituals that fit into your regular routine, such as focusing on adding into our busy schedules:

A Gratitude list

Meditation

Healthy diet

Regular exercise

Spiritual/psychic protection

Creative outlet, no matter what that might be

Concentrating on adding even one of these things to your daily “to do” list will go a long way toward reducing the escapist tendencies often felt by those who carry a heavy dose of the Neptunian/Pisces archetype.

This goes for everyone, however, as the tendency for any one of us to feel surrounded by chaotic river, lakes, or oceans to which we must surrender ourselves and simply go with the flow is strong…

When we feel this way, we must indeed go with the flow, but not surrender to feelings of helplessness. Rather, we can harness the ongoing chaotic swirl of life not by making logical sense of it, but rather by honoring it.

The ancients believed that gods demand sacrifices. Perhaps that’s a strong word, one that makes us think we have to give something up in order to survive.

The truth is that what we’re asked to “sacrifice” at this Virgo Full Moon—remember, full Moons are always times of release!—is any victim or martyr tendencies.

Take Heart!

Venus’ trine to Jupiter at this Virgo Full Moon signifies we can expand our consciousness around what it is we truly value now.

Jupiter always asks us to be conscious, while Venus seeks to find out what it is our soul truly values. So, we can interpret this aspect falling at the Virgo Full Moon as on that can help us decide on what we place more value: staying helplessly stuck in the kind of hopeless ennui we may feel now—or moving forward through Virgo energy to take some sort of action, even if it’s simply mental.

Even letting go, or surrendering a thought–giving it up go God, as they say in Alcoholics Anonymous–can make space for something newer to come in–something more empowering, less self-critical, and more attuned to listening to your real inner voice, not the negative one you’ve internalized from external critical voices.

Mars’ square to Mercury, Venus, & Chiron now also tells us that it’s less beneficial for us to beat up ourselves (or others), especially through the way we think or communicate, and to stop and figure out what we’re really annoyed with, or what’s really hurt us.

Chances are if we go deep and heed Erica Jong’s advice, we’ll figure out it’s actually not someone else, but rather ourselves with whom we’re annoyed.

So use that Venus/Jupiter trine to expand your consciousness and the Virgo Full Moon to release all that does not serve as you move forward more consciously in this lifetime…

And honor spiritual self when the Sun conjoins with Neptune on March 4…your dreams can come true, but you’ve got to put your will behind them in order to make them happen…

The Virgo Full Moon says release confusion, doubt, insecurity, and reliance upon any inner voices that tell you you’re no good, not worth it, untalented, lack imagination, or are simply unworthy.

This Virgo Full Moon is perfect for Kesha’s song/video “Praying,” which depicts her at the beginning lying on a cross-like structure giving voice to the stereotypical Piscean dilemma: what IS the purpose & reason of life if living includes suffering? It follows to a Piscean conclusion that “being alive hurts too much.” But, as Kesha sings, there’s another way that involves CHOICE:

“Am I dead? Or is this one of those dreams?Those horrible dreams that seem like they last forever?If I am alive, why? Why? If there is a God or whatever, something, somewhere, why have I been abandoned by everyone and everything I’ve ever known? I’ve ever loved? Stranded. What is the lesson? What is the point? God, give me a sign, or I have to give up. I can’t do this anymore.Please just let me die. Being alive hurts too much.”

I’m proud of who I am
No more monsters, I can breathe again
And you said that I was done
Well, you were wrong and now the best is yet to come
‘Cause I can make it on my own
And I don’t need you, I found a strength I’ve never known
I’ve been thrown out, I’ve been burned
When I’m finished, they won’t even know your name

You brought the flames and you put me through hell
I had to learn how to fight for myself
And we both know all the truth I could tell
I’ll just say this is I wish you farewell

Free To Be Who You Are

The Aquarius New Moon highlights this archetypal sign of friendship and community. In essence, it’s the sign of humanitarianism–love for the collective, not in a spiritually empathic Neptunian “there but the for the grace of God go I” sense, but rather through a “united we stand, divided we fall” ideology.

The English language has but one word to describe “love.” In reality, however, when you think about it, love comes in several different forms–from romantic to erotic, from comradely love to love of family, community, country, etc.

As such, this Aquarius New Moon presents us with a time during which we mayplant seeds around our commitment to groups and their causes, and to those toward whom we feel brotherly/sisterly love.

However, there’s a paradox here. Above all, Aquarius energy represents our commitment to our own sense of individuality, our freedom to individuate and to be who we truly came here to be.

Jungian analyst and astrologer Richard Idemon defines Uranian/Aquarian love in his book “Through the Looking Glass” as agape, which brings with it the ability to say “I love you enough to let you more fully and completely be who you are. Indeed, the more you are fully and completely yourself, the more I love you; and this is because the more you are completely who you are, the more I can be fully and completely who I am.

“The image associated with Aquarius is the water bearer, a god pouring water or a fluidlike substance from an urn,” explains Idemon. “The urn and its contents represent love as a gift from the gods…the urge of agape is for each one of us to offer as a form of love those things we have learned through our individual journeys and our suffering…

“Heroes and heroines go through their heroic journey and then bring back the gifts of truth, freedom, enlightenment, cleansing or redemption to share with humanity,” according to Idemon. Agape awakens and frees us at the same time because it has “a kind of Humpty Dumpty effect—it hits us and off the wall we fall…if we are truly living in process, if we are growing and evolving, we must expect and accept that change is part of life.”

What About The Solar Eclipse?

This partial solar eclipse at the Aquarius New Moon occurs at 27-degrees and 7-minutes of the sign of the water bearer. This is within two degrees of opposition to last year’s August 21 total solar eclipse at 28-degrees 53-minutes of Leo.

Solar eclipses are, in general, more likely to manifest externally while lunar eclipses may bring forth more hidden internal emotional issues. This partial solar eclipse is part of a pair—it falls under the same auspices as the January 31 Leo Full Moon total lunar eclipse, and so it carries the same theme.

That theme includes new ideas, according to astrologer Bernadette Brady, who wrote in her book “Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and the Lark” that “if this eclipse affects your chart, you will be flooded with new ideas or options. There may seem to be an element of haste, but if you can go with the new ideas, they will have positive outcomes.”

A solar eclipse occurs at a New Moon when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, causing the light of the Sun to be obscured. A total solar eclipse obscure’s the whole of the Sun’s light from the vantage point of Earth, while a partial solar eclipse allows only a portion of the Sun’s light to either shine or be hidden.

Whether an eclipse is total or partial is determined by the orb (number of degrees) between the Sun and the transiting Nodes of the Moon. Ergo, it’s the position of the transiting Nodes that determines whether or not any given New Moon is a solar eclipse or not.

Either way, it’s still important to recognize where an eclipse occurs in your chart (in what house this eclipse degree falls), and to note whether or not it touches any sensitive points (planets, angles, etc.) in your own horoscope.

Remember, at this partial solar eclipse we’re all about planting those new seeds, some of which will come in the form of ideas. Since the same energy has been in play since January 31’s total lunar eclipse—though that was a time of release—let’s ask ourselves what we’ve been able to let go of in the form of ideas that no longer serve us well in order to make room for newer, more exciting or revelatory ones.

Now is the time for beginnings. People, external events, or circumstances may prompt new ideas that will allow you to shine that light of yours defiantly and proudly out into the world in a way that benefits not just yourself but others too!

What About Us?

It’s our individuality that makes us special and unique, and it’s our specific hero’s journey that enlightens us about exactly how unique we are, in what ways, and how this differentiates us from the herd.

At this Aquarius New Moon, we’re asked to dig deeply into the water bearer’s urn and discern and assess exactly what’s in it. Joseph Campbell called this the “boon” or “elixir” that we search for as part of our hero’s journey quest.

Why?

Because this is how we make our greatest contribution to the collective. It’s how we add our own specific and special individual divinely-inspired gifts to the group by first defining our gift or gifts, and then releasing them into the group for its betterment–the betterment of wo/mankind.

The message of the transiting nodal axis is still the same as it’s been since May 9, 2017 when it shifted regressively into new signs—the South Node into Aquarius, the North Node into Leo. We’re to take our special gifts, those that we simultaneously brought to the group and those that set us apart from the collective, and bring them forth in ways that allow us to shine as individuals.

Supporting this Aquarius New Moon in its mission are Mars and Vesta in Sagittarius (the latter symbolic of the eternal flame lighting the prodigal son’s way home) sextile the South Node and trine the North Node. This “easy” energy may just provide the necessary push (read: opportunity) to remind us of our true goal.

At the same time, Mercury in Aquarius (aligned now with the Moon, Sun, & Juno—the archetypal “wife” or partner) sextiles Aquarian ruler Uranus in Aries. Opportunities for new ideas—no matter how fast or from how far out of the blue they come—may be just the match we need to help us light our own special divinely-inspired fires and shine them into the world.

Also, a sextile between Venus in Pisces and Saturn in Capricorn provides a groundedness and welcome balance to the airy energy of this Aquarius New Moon. It asks us to ponder: where can we find opportunity through our compassion and empathy to carry out our duty to family, friends, colleagues, community—but most of all to ourselves—without sacrificing our individuality now?

Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself

You might want to keep this in mind, as well, as Mars approaches a square to Neptune at this Aquarius New Moon. This square will exact on February 17, the day before the Sun moves into the sign of Pisces and, leading up til then, may well have us doubting ourselves, especially in terms of our physical energy.

Mars square Neptune can bring fatigue and depression, but greater trouble may result from our own tendency to second guess our intuitions and allow ourselves to fall prey to the deceitful words or actions of another or others.

Don’t get sucked into believing that a group’s cause is the same as your own if that group does not appreciate the special gifts you bring to it!

In his book “Planets In Transit,” astrologer Rob Hand warns of “low physical energies” with this transit, and to “watch out for fevers, cuts, burns, infections and the like, along with allergies and excessive physical strain.”

How can we better utilize the Mars square Neptune energy? The key lies with the fact that this square can also endow us with great intuitive power. Allow your feelings to guide you, but maintain strong enough boundaries so as to not fall into any deceitful trap or—worse yet–beat yourself up if you do!

Rather, allow yourself to forgive yourself for any sob story you may have bought from others, any metaphorical Brooklyn Bridges you may have purchased. In doing so you’ll be able—at least eventually—to forgive your deceivers as well.

Venus is approaching Neptune now (exact conjunction on February 21), and we know that if we have the capability to feel compassion for ourselves in the form of forgiveness, we may then feel the same toward others.

This is key! Remember, fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me! Use this energy to become conscious of your patterns and to transform them from the kind of deficit inherent in continually playing the victim into the empowerment and strength necessary for self-forgiveness…

At this time, Neptune also forms a quincunx to the Leo North Node, challenging us to remember that one way to reward ourselves when we’re able to pierce any bubble of negativity in which we may be hiding or existing is through creative expression, or the enjoyment of another’s creativity.

Make music–or simply listen to it–attend a dance event or simply dance, read or write, drum, meditate, pray, paint or go to a museum. In short, appreciate that the universe surrounds you with beautiful, pleasurable experiences as long as you take the time and opportunity to stop and smell those roses…above all, best to heed Rob Hand’s warning now to “try not to become demoralized! Conserve your energies, confront your fears!”

Here’s Pink’s What About Us, an appropriate question to ask as we all ponder past changes in our lives and if it’s time now for us to stand up and be counted:

Pink

“We are searchlights, we can see in the darkWe are rockets, pointed up at the starsWe are billions of beautiful heartsAnd you sold us down the river too far…

What about us?
What about all the times you said you had the answers?
What about us?
What about all the broken happy ever afters?
What about us?

What about all the plans that ended in disaster?
What about love? What about trust?
What about us?

We are problems that want to be solved We are children that need to be loved We were willin’, we came when you called But man, you fooled us, enough is enough, oh

What about us?
What about all the times you said you had the answers?
What about us?
What about all the broken happy ever afters?
Oh, what about us?
What about all the plans that ended in disaster?
Oh, what about love? What about trust?
What about us?
Oh, what about us?

What about all the plans that ended in disaster?
What about love? What about trust?
What about us?

Sticks and stones, they may break these bonesBut then I’ll be ready, are you ready?It’s the start of us, waking up come on
Are you ready? I’ll be ready

I don’t want control, I want to let go
Are you ready? I’ll be ready
‘Cause now it’s time to let them know
We are ready, what about us?

What about us? What about all the times you said you had the answers? So what about us? What about all the broken happy ever afters? Oh, what about us? What about all the plans that ended in disaster? Oh, what about love? What about trust? What about us?”

Full Super Blue Blood Moon Total Wha?

January 31’s Full Super Blue Blood Leo Moon total lunar eclipse (say that three times fast, I dare ya!) is so named because it’s a:

Full Moon: the 11-degree 37-minute Leo Moon opposes the Aquarius Sun at the same degree and conjoins with the lunar Nodes making this event a total lunar eclipse

Blue Moon: the second Full Moon in one calendar month

Super Moon: The Moon’s orbiting between 14-30% closer to the Earth—called perigee–which makes the Moon appear larger and brighter than during a normal lunar orbit

Blood Moon: During the lunar eclipse, when the Earth comes between the Sun & Moon, the moon will glide into Earth’s shadow, gradually turning the white disk of light to orange or red, according to Phys.org

“That red light you see is sunlight that has skimmed and bent through Earth’s atmosphere and continued on through space to the moon,” notes Alan MacRobert of Sky and Telescope magazine. “In other words, it’s from all the sunrises and sunsets that ring the world at the moment.”

One take-away here has to do with the potential potency of this total lunar eclipse and the archetypal energies involved. Remember that eclipses can act like jump starts to a car, and jolt us into a new direction, way of thinking, or some kind of change, etc.

They can lead to sudden, unexpected events or revelations (especially this one on the Leo/Aquarius axis), that will likely manifest in the areas of your chart (houses) where the Sun & Moon fall at this time. Eclipses generally manifest between three weeks before and six months after, though they have been known to extend their effects for several years, depending…

Another message coming from this Leo Super Full Moon (closer to the Earth, remember?) may come in larger than life drama queen scenes, so be on the lookout now for displays of over the top emotion or histrionics. It’s like a “normal” full Moon on steroids, so this Super Moon’s closeness to Earth can make us even more “lunatic” (read: loo-nah-tic!) now, which is to say we may feel this energy more strongly than usual…

Since Full Moons are always about release, a simultaneous total lunar eclipse indicates endings as well. Eclipses run in what’s known as the Saros Cycles and have been traced back through the ages by many astrologers, among them Bernadette Brady.

Brady notes in “Predictive Astrology, The Eagle and the Lark,” that this particular Leo Full Moon total lunar eclipse (Saros Series 1 South) “is concerned with ideas and their enthusiastic expression,” and that “if this eclipse affects your chart, you will be flooded with ideas or options. There may seem to be an element of haste, but if you can go with new ideas, they will have positive outcomes.”

Hmm…sounds like in order to allow in such new ideas, we’ll probably have to release some older ones, eh? And that this may happen naturally. Be aware of where this eclipse is hitting your chart and you’ll be able to guesstimate into what area of life your new ideas will come…

Let There Be Light…

This Leo Full Moon is a lunar eclipse because the Aquarius Sun joins Venus, Hygeia, Juno, and the Aquarius South Node (past karma), while the Leo Moon aligns with Ceres & the Leo North Node in opposition.

As we feel the strong pull of Aquarian South Node energy to the past, we notice that only the Leo Moon & Ceres are aligned with the North Node, the direction of our future destiny. Let’s review how we might move forward consciously.

When the Leo Moon reflects back to the Aquarius Sun its own bright light, we’re reminded–while the Sun moves this month through this group-oriented, humanitarian, aha! moment sign–that the whole collective of humanity is comprised of separate individuals.

However mindful of this we remain, we also must recall that all full Moon energies require integration and balance to operate optimally.

What does this energetic integration look like?

First of all, what’s wounded you in terms of the Aquarian archetype either in early life or past life karma, particularly in the area of breaking away (or not!) from a group or tribe (i.e., family, religion, school, community, etc.) and their particular way of thinking. What’s got you clinging to an old way of dealing with issues around health and/or partnership?

You might have been ostracized (which could lead to self-ostracizing, aptly espoused by Groucho Marx’s famous quip: “I don’t wanna be a member of any group that’ll have me as a member!”) Perhaps you were ahead of your time and everyone around you thought you were crazy. Maybe you were, or you became crazy as a result, doubting your own intuitive or intellectual knowledge.

Or, alternatively, you stuck with the group (and its way of thinking) out of habit, or a sense of guilt or betrayal should you decide to leave, but you knew at some point that the group’s philosophy varied greatly from your own.

The results of sticking with that group or collective energy over time might have pushed you into a position of authority—one from which it became harder and harder to escape. So now you’re living a life that doesn’t include being true to yourself or your own individual beliefs, and which doesn’t leave you feeling truly happy or secure.

This Leo Full Moon lunar eclipse calls us all to think about why we align with those we do, whether they constitute a literal group or simply a particular philosophy or set of beliefs or rules–and whether this way of thinking benefits your freedom of self-expression, health, or one-on-one partnerships.

I Glory In The Me Yet To Come

The Sun will shine, regardless. You get to decide how much you want your individual light to shine, and whether or not you need the group or collective to be able to do this.

We all walk that fine line between being accepted and being ourselves. Many of us—for whatever reason—feel we must hide our true inner selves for fear of being shamed, blamed, or otherwise deemed “different.”

The Leo Moon/Ceres/North Node call us to utilize what we’ve learned from any group or tribe to which we belong or previously belonged, and to bring it forward in our lives. Dwarf planet Ceres’ connotation is around sustenance, be it literal or metaphorical, so now is the time to figure out how to self-nurture by shining one’s own creative, solar light out into the world in order to fulfill one’s karmic destiny–without fear.

I’ve noted before that Jungian astrologer Liz Greene points out that the dilemma for those who carry Aquarian energy is about separating from the collective. Since we all have Uranus (Aquarius’s ruler) somewhere in our chart, the house or houses with this sign prominent represent areas where our ability to express our emotional and instinctive individual needs is being tested.

In The Art of Stealing Fire, Uranus in the Horoscope, Greene cautions against considering unconventionality equal to individuality. She writes: “…please try to rid yourselves of the association of Uranus with individuality,” because “unconventional does not mean individual…because the act of rebelling against something means that tone is in some way deeply bound up with, and subtly dominated by, the very things one is fighting. This is not an expression of individuality, because that comes from within, and is not dictated by attempting to be the opposite of something one perceives in the outer world.”

She adds: “One needs to be able to say, ‘hang on a minute. This is a wonderful and inspiring vision of the future, but does it apply to the world in which I am presently living? Is it viable in terms of my experience of life and human nature? Do I believe it with my heart and gut, as well as my head?…Can I contribute anything truly individual to making it work?’

“Without this kind of perspective, Uranus may wipe out individual values and individual authenticity, and what we have left is polemics. In its most negative form, these are the polemics of the terrorist, or the polemics of any mass movement which is aimed at destroying institutions or structures which are deemed in need of radical change.”

Green concludes, “if someone is trapped in such receptivity to the collective, without any individual sense of self to monitor, sift, and shape the revelation, he or she may lose touch with what is nourishing and creative on an inner level, and many important aspects of personal life may be unwittingly crushed.”

Creating My Own Tomorrow

The Moon quincunxes Neptune at this Leo Full Moon lunar eclipse, which says we may be confused, easily deceived, or put our faith into something Quixotic; however, we may still continue to dream of what we can someday become…

It pays now to remember “from chaos comes clarity,” and that as long as we’re aware this is the dream stage and not the actuality, we should be fine. Quincunx is tantamount to an annoyance which, through its irritation, causes us to adjust something or other in our immediate environment.

So, when dealing with the more impersonal Aquarian energy prevalent right now, we can remind ourselves that through this Moon/Neptune quincunx we can adjust to any annoyances by allowing ourselves freedom of creative and emotional expression as at least a brief respite. This is preferable over putting too much faith in others and ending up deceived.

In addition, Mercury moves just after this Leo Full Moon from “work hard,” “keep the status quo,” and “don’t rock the boat” Capricorn energy into more objectively forward thinking, impartial, collective Aquarius energy, and we may have to put on our thinking caps to ascertain if what’s being said (or what we’re saying to others) is what we truly think or feel.

When I Become One With The Sun

The courage and strength to think and feel freely is the right and proper integration of the Aquarius and Leo energies prevalent now.

The message inherent in this Leo Full Moon lunar eclipse is that we must sustain ourselves by shining our true light up and outward and, in doing so follow our hearts regardless of the strong pull of the collective right now.

Though the Aquarian archetype often likes its external battles—think Prometheus and his defiance of Zeus when he stole fire to give to mankind–the battle now is within, not without.

Because it’s your heart that knows whether it’s on the “right” road or not, even if it’s not the permanent road. And it’s your heart that cannot sacrifice its individual unique means of expression, or sublimate its feelings to any particular group or the collective as a whole, to be lost to anonymity forever…

Here’s a song that sprang to mind when writing this piece that I feel aptly describes the energy of this Leo Full Moon total lunar eclipse & its potential integrative energies…note how there’s an orchestra (group) AND soloists (individuals) ALL expressing themselves creatively! (Sorry the film’s a bit fuzzy in places, but I couldn’t find a clearer version…)

Do You Know What You Don’t Know?

Tonight’s Capricorn New Moon @26-degrees 54-minutes in the sign of the goat calls us to get serious about both what we KNOW and what we have still to learn.

Capricorn, ruled by authoritative serious taskmaster Saturn, is never in it for the kicks. Rather, this is an archetypal energy that’s old and rigid when it’s born and slowly relaxes to become more flexible as it ages.

What does that mean?

It means that right now we find the ruler of this perigee (closer to Earth than most full moons), blue (two full moons in the same month) Capricorn Full Moon large, in charge, & relentless in its goal to make us wiser…

This is particularly true now not only because the Moon & Sun, but also Saturn, Mercury, Venus, & Pluto are in the same sign—hoo boy, that’s a lottaCappyenergy! In addition, and at least until March 8 when Jupiter stations retrograde— all planets are in forward motion now.

Most astrologers liken Capricorn energy to serious, success-oriented, and goal-driven behaviors, and all of this is true. Capricorn energy possesses a propensity for hard work, organization, upward mobility, and maintaining a positive reputation in a particular field, specific industry, or the wider world in general.

Astrologer & Jungian analyst Liz Greene tells us in her book “Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil” that Saturn’s placement in our birth chart informs us where we came into this lifetime feeling inadequate. Likewise, any house (or houses) ruled by Saturn’s Capricorn are likely to be areas where our personal inadequacies rear their ugly heads.

Where Saturn resides in our chart (by house & sign), and the house or houses ruled by this mentor figure, tells us where we’re likely to feel frustrated, thwarted in our self-expression, and/or to meet with difficulties.

However, here’s the good news: We come in with a road map—where Saturn lives in our chart (and the house or houses ruled by him) is where we’re CONSCIOUS of our self-perceived inadequacies. For this reason, many of us spend a large part of our early lives feeling flawed, but aware of our feelings, which eventually allows us to change them.

And how do we do that?

Simple: we learn!

“The frustrating experiences connected with Saturn are obviously necessary, as they are educational in a practical, as well as psychological, sense,” Greene states.

At this Capricorn New Moon, we’re all being asked to discover what we DON’T know, and how to best learn it. Likewise, we’re called to own what we DO know—what we’ve studied or worked hard to learn, whether it’s on an intellectual, emotional, physical, or spiritual basis.

Live & Learn From Fools & From Sages

In this day and age, I doubt there’s much dispute that different people learn best in a variety of different ways. So, some of us may have been handed our lessons from the harsher more subjective school of hard knocks as opposed to an objective, factual, logical, empirical, classroom & book-learned setting.

Capricorn is, after all, a practical earth sign, and it’s possible our lessons were learned through physical or mental repetition, whether in a classroom or out on the streets.

You know, repeating the same thing over and over until you finally “get” it…

Any way you slice it, Saturn-ruled Capricorn is about coming into this lifetime with a perceived deficit, and turning it—through hard work, dedication, and a desire to be the BEST you possible—into your metaphorical treasure chest.

Saturn represents lead. In the middle ages, alchemists attempted to change lead into gold. Little did they know this is impossible, and that what they were really attempting was to find external physical “proof” of the internal intangible metaphysical notion of transformation.

Whether we start out life thinking we possess a physical, emotional, mental or intellectual deficit doesn’t really matter. What’s important is that when we look back we recognize the slow, steady, determined, progress we’ve made to overcome being saddled with, or hampered by, this “deficit.”

This Capricorn New Moon’s exact message depends on the stage of your individual Saturnian journey, or where you’re at in the transformation of lead—or your perceived short-comings–into metaphorical gold.

However, whether we’re still young and working on it, middle-aged and more accomplished, or post-second Saturn return, it’s time for self-validation and to admit to ourselves that we have learned a thing or two from our painful past experiences.

If these experiences hurt us deeply enough, they likely propelled us into some level of self-awareness. If so, then Saturn’s done his job. However, what you dowith this newfound self-awareness ultimately makes the difference between “real” success and its mere outer trappings.

Sometimes it’s discerning between these two that presents the most serious Saturnian challenge.

Our lessons can come from anywhere—a parent, family member, teacher, friend, cleric, cop, lawyer/judge, colleague, boss, etc. Hell, we might even occasionally hear words of wisdom from our car mechanic or that dude on the checkout line in the grocery store…

It’s not where you hear it, it’s whether or not it applies…

You Got To Lose To Know How To Win

Pain is the mightiest teacher, as Liz Greene states, and it can teach us to become bitter, cold, and non-caring, or kind, appreciative, loving, and compassionate. Most of all, it teaches us self-compassion, something many of us may believe is unnecessary.

This Capricorn New Moon calls us to realign our thinking on this matter. First of all, where are you in your Saturnian journey? Do you use your self-perceived deficit to beat yourself up mentally or emotionally by thinking you’re not good enough and never will be?

For some, it’s time to continue to learn things for the first time, and this Capricorn New Moon asks you to commit to overcoming any personally-perceived inadequacies by moving forward and not giving up. Giving up is not usually part of Capricorn’s lexicon, although initially this energy is capable of dragging us down farther than it is of lifting us up.

No matter how strong the downward pull toward negative thinking or depression becomes, it pays to remember that there’s another meaning to this energy. While negative past experiences may have hurt us deeply—partners leave, jobs end, possessions and/or money disappear—the message is often a deeply Saturnian one.Initially, these painful losses most likely strengthened our conviction that we suck big time at something or other in life.

However, the truth is that those people, circumstances, or things are/were not instrumental to our future growth and that to achieve our highest goals we’re better off without them.

In fact, over time, you may understand how it was these external people or circumstances that dragged you down in the first place…

In fact, some of us may too often fast forward to feeling another’s pain, but lack the ability to acknowledge our own pain and learn self-sympathy as a result. This can seriously trip us up as we’re faced with learning life’s lessons.

It pays to remember there’s an alchemical process at work here.

This Capricorn New Moon may depress us, slow us down, or make us exceptionally cautious; however, it teaches us also that slow and steady wins the race.

While some of us may feel inert, depressed, or as if the world has turned an even darker shade of black at this time, we can remind ourselves that we’re in the middle of a transformative process…

Perhaps we can conceive that our thoughts have a grander purpose–one that can assist us to find a raison d’etre in the microcosm or macrocosm of our life at any given point, or help us recognize our true path forward…

…one that’s meant to lead us to our internal metaphorical gold.

We metaphysicians call this “soul growth.”

Dream On

For others, the impetus behind self-improvement initiatives resulted in the feeling that you’ve “arrived.” You’ve learned what there is to know in any particular area of life and now you’re ready to become a mentor.

Helping us out at this Capricorn New Moon, regardless of which pattern fits your life right now, is Jupiter in Scorpio’s sextile to Pluto in Capricorn providing us the opportunity to expand our own consciousness through self-empowerment.

Remember that Pluto, the slowest moving planet in our galaxy, set the Capricorn backbeat in 2008 when he first moved into this sign I like to call “business as usual.” At that time, we experienced here in the U.S. a great recession, as housing prices tumbled and many home owners fell into debt.

We’ve come back from that now, but Pluto’s journey through Capricorn has a few more years still to go. Last December he was joined by Saturn moving into its own sign, which strengthens this Capricorn theme even more for at least the next three years.

The other planets in Cap at this Capricorn New Moon are a definite statement that our chickens have come home to roost and that the piper must be paid…no longer can we run from our perceived inadequacies by sweeping them under the rug or pretending they don’t bother us.

Now is the time to plant seeds that will grow into greater self-empowerment, not despite our perceived inadequacies or flaws, but because of them! Insecurity is insecurity whether you let it drag you down into the quicksand or you turn it inside out and mask it behind a facade of superiority. Either way, you’re burdened by not being true to yourself…

“If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in ife, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. On one level, we all know this stuff already. It’s been codified as myths, proverbs, cliches, epigrams, parables; the skeleton of very great story. Teh whole trick is keeping the trugh up front in daily consciousness.“ ~ David Foster Wallace

Outside The Box Structure

At this Capricorn New Moon, we also have Mars quincunx Uranus, the planet of unexpected change, reminding us not to move too carelessly or too fast.

Aquarius energy, when deemed to be ruled by Uranus, is conceived of as revelatory and revolutionary. When we consider Saturn to be the ruler of Aquarius, we find a recipe for building or rebuilding new structure from within.

A Capricorn New Moon would not call for revolution, even when followed so closely by the Sun’s ingress into Aquarius, the sign of humanity.

Rather, the signs seem to point–as Mars moves into a trine to wounded healer Chiron, that we use our own willpower to shift around some of our internal energies. If we bring them into greater alignment little by little, we can face our future boldly and without fear.

When Venus moves into Aquarius on January 17, our relationships become a bit more daring and less conventional. The Sun follows Venus into the sign of the water bearer on January 19, and it’s then we’ll be called to take this Capricorn New Moon’s commitment to build a stronger sense of internal security to heart. How?

Through knowing that if we’re ever left totally on our own WE WILL SURVIVE!

And that, if the foundation under our feet crumbles away unexpectedly, we’ll soldier on, and rebuild it stronger and better than it was originally. It’s this kind of knowledge that helps us become a little less fearful day by day…

Remember the Capricorn backbeat–all else springs from, reverberates around, and resonates to this bass line. When we attribute Saturn’s rulership to forward-thinking, ahead of its time Aquarius, we can rest assured we’ll download how to rebuild or restructure any system by tapping into something greater than ourselves…

Steven Tyler‘s song/videoDream On seems to have the perfect lyrics to capture this Capricorn New Moon energy’s message that as time goes by, we live and we learn…

Dream On

“Every time when I look in the mirror
All these lines on my face getting clearer
The past is gone
It went by, like dusk to dawn
Isn’t that the way
Everybody’s got the dues in life to pay

I know nobody knows
Where it comes and where it goes
I know it’s everybody sin
You got to lose to know how to win

Half my life’s in books, written pages
Live and learn from fools and from sages
You know it’s true, oh
All the things come back to you

Sing with me, sing for a year
Sing for the laughter, and sing for my tear
Sing with me, if it’s just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

Yeah, sing with me, sing for the year
Sing for the laughter, and sing for the tear
Sing it with me, if it’s just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

RESOLUTION TO BUILD A FIRM & LOVING FOUNDATION

The message emanating from today’s Cancer Full Moon is one that reminds us to relax and release any rigid thinking keeping us chained to a tough love mentality of the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps and simply succeed, man!” kind…

What’s wrong with that way of thinking, you ask?

Nothing, as long as it’s NOT at the expense of one’s ability to feel and to exhibit compassion—especially self-compassion.

Since Saturn began his journey December 19 through his own sign of Capricorn—where he’ll reside for three years–he’s joined Pluto, the king of slow transformation, already in Capricorn since late 2008.

The Sun & Venus followed Saturn into Capricorn for their monthly stays on December 21 & 24, respectively, and we’ve seen a shift over the past two weeks since December 18’s fiery Sagittarius New Moon energy into staid Capricorn–a far more grounded, earthy, ambitious, practical, success-oriented archetype.

In short, we got a whole lotta Capricorn energy goin’ on right now…

This Cancer Full Moon is fine with that, but what she craves most is emotional safety and security. To her, achieving THAT defines success!

As she stands in opposition to not only the Capricorn Sun, but to Saturn, Pluto, & Venus in Capricorn as well, she tells us now’s the time to release any fears that prohibit the building, maintaining, or expanding of our foundation for future success.

And by foundation, I mean both the inner & outer structures upon which we may work toward a successful future…

NO LOVE WITHOUT COMPASSION!

The Cancer Full Moon highlights for us all the issue of fear, and asks that we initiate the process of non-attachment—from both our material and emotional worlds…

In its quest for success, Capricorn energy often forgets how rigid and cold (two archetypal traits of its ruler, the planet Saturn) it can appear when making judgments, signing cut and dried contracts, and myopically climbing the ladder of personal success.

We can almost hear the uber-sensitive, compassionate Cancer Full Moon beseeching this cluster of planets (stellium) in Capricorn to hear her plaintiff plea: “Yes, but what’s all of your success FOR? If it’s NOT about building a heartfelt connection to those we love for the purpose of emotional security & fulfillment, then WHAT?”

This Cappy stellium is likely to reply ingenuously, “what’s love got do to with it?”

Ah, yes, what indeed?

Capricorn, ruled by Saturn–Father Time & Lord of Karma–is always about structure.

And any foundational structure encompasses our fundamental belief system because it’s our beliefs which provide us a strong sense of external reality. Capricorn, a cardinal earth sign, represents taking initiative in the material physical world.

On the more metaphysical side, Capricorn the goat wasn’t always a dry land creature—he was once of the sea. This sea-goat, who climbed ambitiously out of the chaotic emotional waters of the ocean deep and onto terra firma, did so to adapt, evolve and, eventually, to thrive.

Think of the huge amount of motivation & ambition it took for this sea creature to drag himself from the ocean onto the shore, and the subsequent power he must have felt through accomplishing this goal. Such a feat was seconded only by his survival, adaptation to new terrain, and his ability to sidestep any potential environmental perils.

Despite the sea-goat’s metamorphosis—or more precisely because of it–the symbolism is clear: the Capricorn archetype originated from emotional beginnings. Its watery inception, however, was shed—like a snake sheds its skin—and replaced by earthy, practical, physical concerns.

The Cancer Moon in opposition to this strong Capricorn energy alerts us to remember that the Capricorn archetype contains within it the watery beginnings of the sea-goat. Ergo, it’s very existence is rooted in FEELING…

EVERY TIME I OPEN UP IT HURTS

Capricorn is uber-responsible; Cancer uber-sensitive…existential loneliness is the potential plight of the Capricorn archetype, while extreme emotional vulnerability through fear of abandonment is the Cancer archetype’s Achilles heel.

Cancer represents a more obviously emotionally vulnerable and compassionate archetypal energy rooted in early family life. However, her plight is the same: she’s driven not by fears of a dearth of physical resources, but rather by a lack of emotional ones.

Capricorn energy is more likely to take an uber-responsible stance and emotionally FEEL: “I’ll do it because I HAVE to—because nobody else will!” At his inner core, Capricorn is not convinced there are enough resources to go around, so he strives to achieve emotional security and satisfaction through the physical material plane.

It’s almost like saying the sea-goat realized intuitively that staying in the ocean forever wouldn’t ultimately provide enough boundaried security and safety. The sea is uncertain, amorphous, ever-moving. Capricorn’s archetypal energy isn’t comfortable with such uncertainty and inconstancy.

What’s was a Cap to do when he feels so ungrounded?

One possibility is that his deeply ingrained distrust of the finite nature of his world (read: current resources) led to his compulsive expansion onto land. Once there, however, his distrust that scarcity might leave him vulnerable again convinced him to keep pushing upward and onward…

Meanwhile, exposure of one’s soft white underbelly to the world at large frightens the heck out of the Cancerian archetype, causing her to fearfully run and hide from the world she deems to be too big, cold, and cruel to emotionally bear.

Fear can become the Cancerian manta and color everything in her world. Often this energy “hides” her extreme emotional vulnerability behind a mask of nurturing, compassionate mothering-type energy, and deflects attention away from her own deeply hidden emotional insecurities and fears of abandonment.

This Cancer Full Moon reminds us of the juxtaposition between these two archetypal energies, and that it’s integration that’s necessary.

We can’t go around being hard-asses our whole lives out of a desperate fear of losing our resources—a deeply hidden fear that simply perpetuates our need for more and more physical accoutrements.

Neither can we weep profusely, mire ourselves in fearful worry about emotional exposure and abandonment, or hide behind the guise of a “mothering” role forever…

YOU GOTTA HAVE HEART

Ah, but wait! It’s possible this Cancer Full Moon’s formation of a grand water trine to Neptune in Pisces and Mars/Jupiter in Scorpio can be of help!

While water equals emotion, a grand trine can work in one of two ways: it can cause us to tap into our emotional natures and have compassion for both ourselves and our fellow human beings, or it can create a kind of emotional closed circuit.

The latter means that our sensitivity at the Cancer Full Moon may flow inward ONLY and result in a kind of “why me?” mentality that sends us scuttling into our hard, protective shell. A shell from which we won’t emerge again until we feel completely, totally, unerringly SAFE.

What other defense does water energy have against such a seriously driven, boundaried, less emotional earth one like Capricorn?

The trick here is to recognize that, although Cancer & Capricorn are polar opposite energies, both have their origins in the watery emotional realm.

Helping us out is the sextile formed by Venus & the Sun to Neptune, providing us the opportunity to benefit from this a whole lotta feelin’ goin’ on now, too…

None of us survive on money alone. We can try, and many do, but when we recognize that our ambitious need to acquire is driven by our deeply hidden fears we see, if we are smart, the opportunity to better define and subsequently release these fears.

This Cancer Full Moon reminds such strong Capricorn energy—so likely to feel like the last man standing who develops an “I know this is gonna hurt, but it’s got to be done!” mentality—to remember that at heart it’s about HEART.

Capricorn may say “I’m doing it this way because this is the way it’s always been done!” Cancer reminds him that none of his knee-jerk rationales guarantee freedom from emotional hurt, and that lurking in the subconscious of Capricorn energy lies emotional depths about which this archetype is often unaware.

We know the Capricorn archetype seeks success but often perceives the universe as finite. So, it does not necessarily contemplate the emotional expansiveness that’s possible. Such expansiveness includes widening one’s definition of “success” out into the emotional realm. It’s here that safety and security for his soul might cause him to adjust his previous hard sought after goals…

If not, it’s too easy for the Capricorn archetype to continue to take his definition of success at face value, and to dismiss the more watery emotional realm that lies beneath.

The most obvious cliché stereotype is of the successful, rich, “I can have anything I want, long as I have money” business man who—although he owns a beautiful house in a desirable neighborhood, marries a beautiful wife, fathers beautiful children, and acquires many possessions—finds himself empty and unhappy. Charles Dickens’ Scrooge is a perfect example.

And so, this Cancer Full Moon reminds the Saturnian/Capricorn energy within each of us to be gentle with itself and to become aware of its vulnerabilities.

“Take down that mask of steely resignation and acknowledge from where such commitment to succeed comes!” this Moon cries. “Wo/man cannot live by reason and empirical success alone! WHY do you do what you do?”

Nor can one live by pure visceral gut-wrenching emotion alone.

This Cancer Full Moon asks us to get rid of anything that prevents us from integrating these two archetypal energies: the task master who wants to build the firmest boundaries possible through the material world, and the sensitive, vulnerable, frightened, hurt child within.

You know, the one who cries out in the night for love, acceptance, protection, solace, and healing…

SURPRISE, SURPRISE, URANUS STATIONS DIRECT

Almost exactly 12 hours after the Cancer Full Moon, Uranus, the planet of unexpected events, change, and revolutionary revelations, reverses course and will begin to pick up steam to travel full speed ahead.

What does this mean?

Well, within the context of the Cancer Full Moon, it’s going to be about not only tapping into your own capacity for self-compassion and forgiveness, but to then extend that out to loved ones and the world in general.

Uranus takes seven years transit through a sign, and usually a zodiacal house depending on the configuration of one’s individual birth chart. He retrogrades (appears to move backward) once annually for approximately five months each time.

Uranus last stationed retrograde on August 3, 2017 and now begins forward movement again on January 2, 2018.

The retrograde period for this planet, which rules the zodiacal sign Aquarius, is a time when we may reconnect to parts of ourselves that have been split off. If we think of Uranus/Aquarius as the harbinger of sudden unexpected events, we know that many times surprising events can be traumatic.

For this reason, sudden happenings can have long-term repercussions, both positive and negative in nature, depending.

What Uranus asks us most is to NOT stay eternally, perpetually, mind-numbingly the SAME forever! He’s anti-stagnation and for that reason seeks to shake us out of whatever rut we may have dug ourselves deeply into over the course of time.

Hence, his connotation with revelations, some of which may lead us to revolution in our personal lives or the wider world.

Erin Sullivan writes in “Retrograde Planets,” that “…the long-term process of the Uranus cycle is to gradually produce a new perspective.”

Aha! Eureka! Now we can ask ourselves as we begin the new year 2018 ahead, WHAT perspectives of ours need to be replaced? Where have our ways of thinking or our situations become outdated, no longer useful to us? And how can we replace the old with something new?

As we make our way into 2018, this theme will be prominent. It’s obvious in the politics of the world around us. Even if you’re not into national or global political happenings, one cannot fail to see that change is all around.

The external representation of internal changes? Methinks so…

“I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.” ~ Lao Tzu

It’s up to us all to recognize the silver lining in any cloud of change we incur in our lives and to make lemons into lemonade!

And we can start—this Cancer Full Moon tells us—by examining the beliefs by which we live, upon which we’ve built our foundational security, and determine whether they still hold true for us or whether they actual hinder us more than they help…

Into the deep dark shell of Cancerian vulnerability and the vastly hidden iceberg-like nature of Capricorn’s darkest fears that finite resources will assure his demise—for who can outrun physical death–can we shine a light?

Can we acknowledge that change is good and that no matter what happens we can go with the flow instead of becoming more rigid and inflexible due to fear, or burrow our heads deeper in the sand believing that if we can’t see it we won’t have to deal with it?

Uranus says “no!” It’s time for forward thinking solutions to any problems. The grand water trine with Mars/Jupiter squaring the Nodes is another clue that a “skipped step” within the collective is ripe for a karmic replay.

Ceres in Leo, conjunct the North Node & squared by Mars/Jupiter, indicate that issues around “sustenance”—faith and/or literal food/resources—are in play right now. Let’s not forget that Ceres/Demeter is the mythological mother of Persephone, who was kidnapped, raped, and made queen of the underworld by Pluto/Hades.

Ceres is not only a mythical mother figure, she’s the goddess of the grain/harvest, the holder of the secret to fertility–from which both heavenly & earthly manna is made.

Mar/Jupiter is quick & easy action; as part of the grand water trine to the Cancer Moon & Neptune, it can cause us to act impulsively, or provide the spark we need to ignite our inner fire…

The universe is asking “where do you engage in angry nurturing” rather than allowing yourself to gain the necessary sustenance (both literal and metaphorical) in a loving compassionate way?

The answer to that question may lead you to discover that your self-talk isn’t so nice, and that you might better benefit from replacing the tape in your head with a new, more positive and affirming one.

So, plant the bravest smile on your face, and sally forth reminding yourself that you DO have faith in the universe’s infinite wisdom, that everything happens precisely as it should, and that’s it all meant neither to hurt nor harm, but to allow us to co-create our own futures in a world that’s ever-changing…

Sam Smith’s song/video, Too Good At Goodbyes provides a telling glimpse into what can happen when we defend ourselves too dearly against our emotions. Check it out here!

“You must think that I’m stupidYou must think that I’m a foolYou must think that I’m new to thisBut I have seen this all before

I’m never gonna let you close to meEven though you mean the most to me‘Cause every time I open up, it hurtsSo I’m never gonna get too close to youEven when I mean the most to youIn case you go and leave me in the dirt

And every time you hurt me, the less that I cryAnd every time you leave me, the quicker these tears dryAnd every time you walk out, the less I love youBaby, we don’t stand a chance, it’s sad but it’s true

I’m never gonna let you close to meEven though you mean the most to me‘Cause every time I open up, it hurtsSo I’m never gonna get too close to youEven when I mean the most to youIn case you go and leave me in the dirt

And every time you hurt me, the less that I cryAnd every time you leave me, the quicker these tears dryAnd every time you walk out, the less I love youBaby, we don’t stand a chance, it’s sad but it’s true

I’m way too good at goodbyes(I’m way too good at goodbyes)

‘Cause every time you hurt me, the less that I cryAnd every time you leave me, the quicker these tears dryAnd every time you walk out, the less I love youBaby, we don’t stand a chance, it’s sad but it’s trueI’m way too good at goodbyes…”

Out With The Old, In With The New!

The Sagittarius New Moon brings together heart & mind—as do all new moons—allowing us to plant seeds around the Sagittarian archetype. At 26 degrees 31 minutes of the sign of the archer, this new moon occurs at 10:30 pm PT on December 17 & 1:30 am ET on December 18.

Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter–the planet of expansion of consciousness–is an adventurous, optimistic, glass is always half-full type of energy. This sign represents expansiveness in general, but particularly in relation to our ability to expand our way of thinking…

Why?

Because this is how we develop our general belief system, or philosophy about life…

The December 3 Gemini Full Moon asked us to look at where old beliefs may no longer serve us and to jettison those deemed to have outlived their usefulness or purpose. The upcoming Sadge New Moon says: “hey, now you can replace old ideas by planting seeds for new ideas, philosophies, and beliefs!”

The importance of getting rid of old, outworn, inflexible, no longer profitable philosophies & beliefs was paramount during the waning Gemini Full Moon because as we did, we created space for new ideas and beliefs!

This is the gift of the Sadge New Moon! It tells us that now we can envision what we want for our future that’s more in alignment with what our soul truly believes is right for us individually, instead of what we’ve been taught, told, or forced to believe in the past.

Supported by Mercury, Venus, and Saturn—all in Sagittarius—this Sagittarius New Moon is the perfect time to get fired up about the new year as it approaches! As Venus moves into a favorable trine aspect with change-maker Uranus, we can easily see how new ideas and ways of thinking may support positive change and growth around our value system…

Co-Create 2018!

Likewise, Mars waxing into a trine with Neptune at this Sagittarius New Moon sets the stage for us to dream ourselves into the altruistic kind of energy necessary to achieve success in the new year…

This Mars/Neptune aspect tells us that—whatever changes we conceive of making for 2018—we’ll benefit most by playing neither the victim nor the martyr, but rather by understanding we’re part of a greater “each man’s joy is joy to me; each man’s grief is my own” whole…

This is important to remember moving forward, not least because a more realistic and compassionate view of the world (and our role in it) will undoubtedly increase our chances of greater success over time…

When you spend time thinking about 2018 and how to move forward to co-create your own future, you may notice new ideas slowly replacing old ones as they become less and less useful to you now…

Lending us a hand with this process, we’ve got Mercury retrograde in Sagittarius until December 22, calling us still to review situations, projects, relationships, etc. We’ll find ourselves going over old ground to revisit what needs to be tweaked in any of these areas.

However, Mercury’s retrograde period assures us this is necessary so we may either continue forward on more solid footing, or end or abandon what’s not working. In this way, when Mercury stations direct on December 22, we can embark on our plan for a new course of action, if need be…one that espouses a different set of beliefs, perhaps more grounded in reality…

Meanwhile, Mars entrance into Scorpio on December 9 is still in effect until January 26, when the warrior god moves on into Sagittarius. For now, motivated Mars in the sign of secrets—especially those to do with taboo subjects such as sex & money—will likely continue to excavate and reveal additional information about those who’ve crossed the line and perpetrated crimes in these areas.

Likewise, Mars waxing into a trine with Neptune at this Sagittarius New Moon sets the stage for us to dream ourselves into the altruistic kind of energy necessary to achieve success in the new year…

This Mars/Neptune aspect tells us that—whatever changes we conceive of making for 2018, we’ll benefit most by playing neither the victim nor the martyr. Rather, part of our success will be derived through understanding we’re part of a greater “each man’s joy is joy to me; each man’s grief is my own” whole…

This is important to remember moving forward, not least because a more realistic and compassionate view of the world (and our role in it) will undoubtedly increase our chances of success over time…

Saturn Enters Capricorn: Time To Get Real

In order to really discuss the “truth” about astrology, it’s important to understand that this metaphysical tool can lead us to greater insight and understanding–both about ourselves and the world around us.

This entails not only understanding the positive attributes of planets and signs and their configurations, both in the sky and our individual charts, but also the negative side of their archetypal meanings.

Why bring this up now?

Primarily because Saturn’s entrance into the sign of Capricorn, where it will be from December 19, 2017 until March 22, 2020, tells us two things: we can use this time period to get real and get down to business, or we can waste it by avoiding our responsibilities.

The penalty for avoidance is that nagging oppressive notion that we SHOULD be doing something, but we’re not. You know, the kind that hangs over your conscious mind like a cloud, that sits just behind you when you’re trying to be in the moment & keeps tapping you on the shoulder, constantly reminding you of your “duties” and your inability to adequately fulfill them…

This, over time, can cause a type of slow spiraling depression from which it often feels like we cannot extricate ourselves. We may feel crappy about ourselves, like we don’t deserve good things happening to us, or that life it hard—often simply too hard—to even make us want to try. In short, we may develop a defeatist attitude par excellence!

When this happens, we may sink further and further down, increasingly aware of all the things we meant to do that have now piled one on top of the other, and all the things we mean to do now and in the future, but that we’ve done none of…

The reward for getting down to business now, while Saturn transits through its own sign, is that, as a result of hard work—often VERY hard work—we can not only accomplish much, but after doing so, we’ll roll into bed each night exhausted but far more fulfilled.

Why?

As a result of having tackled what needed (and needs) to be done, even if we’ve procrastinated in the past, even if we’ve made a million excuses, come up with a thousand reasons why we can’t or won’t or don’t have to do it, we’ll feel good that we accomplished something…

And, if we build on this momentum without allowing ourselves to self-sabotage, if we stand up to Saturn in Cap’s inevitable self-judgmental attitude when this energy is at its worst, then we can feel successful in the end…

Success, mind you, doesn’t have to be BIG. Rather, it can be incremental, on a day by day basis…please keep this mind, as Rome wasn’t built in a day…

When The Lord Of Karma Comes A ‘Callin’

“Seven moons and seven suns, Heaven waits for those who run…” ~ Audioslave

Let’s talk about Saturn as the Lord of Karma, which is also how this planet’s archetypal energies are often interpreted. In this astrologer’s opinion, it’s not simply all that happened in the past (either in this lifetime or past lives) catching up with us in order to torture/punish us as we stand helplessly victim to any “crimes” of our past.

Rather, karma is something we create every moment of everyday moving forward.

Therefore, we have the opportunity to change up our karma as we move forward, not because we need to eradicate the past (which is impossible to do, as those of us who’ve tried well know!) but to change our future, a.k.a., our destiny…

A time of reckoning is upon us all, but this is not the grim reaper calling. Rather, it’s the Lord of Karma, as Saturn is known in mythology, attempting to teach us into greater levels of maturity.

The method of Saturn’s lessons?

To learn by experience! When we have the guts to face our perceived inadequacies—meaning those areas where we feel “less than,” or like stupid, inexperienced, scared, lazy, far-from-perfect, no good, rotten ne’er-do-wells–Saturn rewards us for our bravery.

However, often the trouble is this: We don’t like to learn Saturnian-type lessons if we don’t have to. We’d much rather drift, coast, lay back, procrastinate, or generally avoid, avoid, avoid doing the kind of hard work Saturn requires of us.

And this means that Saturn’s lessons are designed to wake us up to the notion that “karma” is a fluid, ongoing, living, breathing, energy. It’s NOT a static, gloom & doom, no-way-can-you-change-your-future-no-matter-how-hard-you-try.

However, Saturn’s lessons, at the time they are being administered, often seem harsh. They can leave us to bemoan our fate, wallow in our

misfortune, mire ourselves in the darkness of depression, don the cloak of victimhood, or react in any other negative ways to people and events around us–especially those we feel have abandoned us in our time of need…

“The frustrating experiences connected with Saturn are obviously necessary, as they are educational in a practical, as well as a psychological sense,” writes astrologer & Jungian psychologist Liz Greene in her book Saturn, A New Look at an Old Devil.

“The basic fact remains the same: human beings do not earn free will except through self-discovery, and they do not attempt self-discovery until things become so painful that they have no other choice.”

In short, Saturn’s a “no pain, no gain” type of guy.

Sun In Capricorn Joins Saturn At Winter Solstice

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” ~ Desmond Tutu

On December 21, the shortest day of the year is finally here! For those of us in the northern hemisphere, we can rejoice that our days will lengthen in light by about 2 minutes each until we reach the summer solstice in June when the opposite will become our reality…

For now, however, it’s good to remember the adage “it’s always darkest before the dawn,” and to hang in there, even as we feel the morphing of energy at the winter solstice away from a more happy-go-lucky Sagittarian nature into decidedly more serious Saturnian territory.

This serious message is enhanced by the Sun’s meet up with Saturn in Capricorn on this day, too. It reminds us now that if we let go of old ways of thinking we’ll begin slowly to solidify our future ideas, plans, beliefs, and philosophies, so that they’ll be given the respect they deserve going forward.

How’s that?

Because they’re rooted in a more expansive personal value system–one that contains increased self-compassion and the kind of love for others that generates true brotherly/sisterly love.

How can such self-honoring and recognition that “there but for the grace of God go I” fail to result in the planting of seeds now for a realistic & more successful future?

Answer: It can’t…

Here’s my tribute to the end of the shortest days of the year via Audioslave’s video The Last Remaining Light…Remember, it’s a future of sunnier skies from here!:

BEWARE THE SQUARE

At this December 3 Gemini Full Moon, both luminaries opposed each other and squared Neptune, the planet of illusion, confusion, & delusion. This, combined with Mercury’s change of direction December 2, created a potential recipe for EVEN MORE confused thinking based on deceptive misinformation, misrepresentation, &/or misconception.

If you’ve been rubbing your eyes and saying yet again “I can’t believe it’s true!” then you’re in the thick of the repercussions of this Gemini Full Moon square Neptune energy. And, if you’ve been feeling spacey, confused, fatigued, or unmotivated these past few days, don’t worry–better to right brain it now, relax, and let the releasing happen naturally…

It’s easy to blame one’s sense of victimhood on a Neptunian malaise…but more productive in the long term to let it slide for just a little while…

Meanwhile, for astrology to prove useful to us, it’s beneficial to view it as a metaphysical description of the energies into which our individual soul chose to be born. A description and interpretation of these energies lies with any good astrologers know how and expertise.

However, as above, so below…if we’re down with the theory that collective behaviors and circumstances reflect the level of the collective’s unconscious, then we may also potentially agree that our individual unconscious energies contribute as well…

The Neptune archetype is famous for an “all that glitters is not gold” kind of deception. As with Neptune always, the question becomes whether we were intentionally deceived by another or others who deliberately misrepresented themselves, or whether we unconsciously deceived ourselves…

Often, the answer to that question is an interesting one. For if one is searching for higher consciousness and comes to believe that external reality—in the form of relationships, jobs, circumstances, etc.—merely represents the projection of one’s own inner energies, then we may find our way to discovering that it’s really all just an inside job…

CHARACTER IS FATE…

The planet Jupiter—the mythological king of the gods and ruler of the Sagittarius Sun from November 21 until December 21–is transiting now through the sign of Scorpio (until November 2018.) It’s pretty undeniable that, since Jupiter’s move into Scorpio on October 10, we’ve seen an expansive coming to light of Pluto-ruled themes such as sexual abuse, and the use and misuse of joint resources and other peoples’ money (including taxes!)

When Jupiter transited through Libra this past year we watched as many partnerships became polarized due to political, philosophical, emotional, religious, or spiritual beliefs.

Though Libra energy generally hates making decisions, since Jupiter’s run through this uber partnership-oriented Venus-ruled sign, many partnerships ended due to differences that could no longer be ignored.

Likewise, new alliances formed based on similarities between individuals concerning issues of importance to them. One need only look at the political situation in any given number of nations, including of course the U.S., to see the truth in this!

The Sun, always symbolic of our core ego-oriented subjective solar identity, travels through Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius annually, which is when we’re all asked to think about the larger meaning of our lives.

Generally optimistic, expansive, buoyant, & all-inclusive, the Sadge archetype is enthusiastically adventurous and broadens its horizons through study &/or travel. Sagittarius has a connotation archetypally not only with travel and study, but with philosophy, law/politics, and religion, too.

Jupiter itself is the archetypal sign of kings in the sense that such rulers traditionally govern through designating legal, philosophical, & often religious “rules.” In return for obeying such rules, a beneficent monarch’s subjects are taken care of, so that peace and harmony might reign throughout the land…

The king asks only a bit of money in return in the form of taxes to keep his castle protected and running smoothly, and his kin healthy so that, ultimately, he may produce a viable heir to his throne.

Archetypally, who’s most likely to afford becoming learned through the benefit of education and travel? Who’s able most easily to convert basic philosophical beliefs—including religious ones–into laws of the land? And, who’s given the mandate to be one of the few to oversee, discipline, and hold accountable the average man or woman?

If you guessed “the king,” well, you’d be one hundred percent right. However, as the rules of Greek tragedy dictate, no heroic figure (read: king) is without his or her tragic flaw.

Traditionally the Greeks named this tragic flaw, “hubris,” or excessive pride–a.k.a., arrogance. They all mean the same thing, or at least they did to the Greeks, who gave us our earliest form of stage drama.

What is the likely tragic flaw when the Sun moves through the sign of Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius?

In other words, and as renowned astrologer Steven Forrest would say, Sadge’s biggest flaw is that he or she “thinks they know EVERYTHING…”

Translation: Righteousness=hubris=arrogance!

DO THE RIGHT—OR THE RIGHTEOUS—THING?

The 11-degree 40-minute Gemini Full Moon shone its light upon the Sadge Sun, revealing Sadge’s potential flaws to the world.

Now, no one here is saying that Sagittarius energy does not have faith in its convictions! Au contraire—this sign can be SO convinced of its beliefs that no one and nothing can talk him out of them, no matter what…and this, in turn, creates hubris, or thinking one knows what’s absolutely “right,” without necessarily having all of the facts first…

The real question becomes: From where do we derive our long-held beliefs? Are they born of experience, were they passed down generationally, culturally, religiously?

And which ones no longer serve us well? Where do we exhibit over-investment in our convictions to the point where they take precedence over anything and everything else—including newer information?

More importantly: where might we have deceived ourselves that these are our soul’s TRUE beliefs?

Following the December 3 Gemini Full Moon, we might all ask ourselves: Where might I need to let go of a long-held belief in order to shed more light onto my soul’s TRUER, but less conscious, beliefs? Likewise, where might I have held onto old convictions for too long, OR abandoned or replaced previous principles in favor of newer, less well thought out ones?

Thus, this Gemini Full Moon alerts us to what must be released at this time—long held philosophies, beliefs, or convictions–in order to move forward more consciously.

If this is true, however, what do we do with our old ideals and beliefs?

Well, the first step lies in identifying their origin. Were we told, taught, or forced to believe certain things early in life? Might our philosophies be hung over from past lives when such convictions served a more positive purpose but now have outlived their usefulness?

INFORMATION OVERLOAD & MERCURIAL REVIEW

Hmmm…well now, isn’t it interesting that Mercury’s backstroking through the heavens in the sign of kings, philosophical beliefs, & law? What could this possibly mean to us?

Despite the recent news about the U.S. Senate’s passage of a tax reform bill likely to hurt the average American and greatly benefit corporations and wealthy families (Jupiter in Scorp, remember? Laws about joint resources, i.e., taxes!), the vote occurred only hours before Mercury turned tail.

Gemini energy excels at collecting and passing information, but not so much at examining, processing, or understanding its deeper meaning/truth.

Curious, loquacious, quick thinking–often imbued with the gift of gab–pure archetypal Gemini energy is more likely to grab onto a piece of information, disseminate it, and move on. Unlike it’s polar opposite Sagittarius, Gemini is less concerned with meaning, a.k.a., “truth,” and more involved with information communication.

However, those who pass information without analyzing its content or verifying its authenticity, accuracy, or veracity, demonstrate the kind of low-end “he said, she said” Gemini energy that often confuses rather than clarifies the overall Sagittarian view.

While the Sadge Sun, ever-seeking a wider screen view, asks, “what’s the meaning of this?,” the more emotional Gemini Moon replies “what do you mean ‘MEANING?’ He said this, she said that, and the rest is merely fake news!”

Easily bored, the Gemini Moon’s archetype might ask the Sadge Sun impatiently to get to the point ALREADY! The December 1 exact Mars opposition to Uranus doubtless helped increase impatience and ultimately expedited matters, as well…

Likewise, this mind-running-mile-a-minute Gemini energy sometimes loses track of the conversation altogether because it jumps impatiently to other, more myopically interesting topics. Finally, Gemini’s capability to interrupt Sadge’s pedantically professorial discourse with bits and pieces of disparate inconsequential information often leads to greater confusion as well…

This means the next few weeks will involve a lot of review, readjustment, reanalysis, revision, etc. This will hopefully happen in order to merge the House and Senate bill versions into one. And, along the way, a good number of details kept hidden from Senators who voted on this legislation (many last-minute changes were hashed out in lobbyists’ offices and scribbled into the margins of the bill—ooh, how Neptunian can you get?) will hopefully become clearer.

And when they do, any negative Geminian tendencies exhibited just prior to the Gemini Full Moon, will be revealed and hopefully corrected.

It stands to reason that, although Mercury stationed retrograde just after the vote on this tax reform bill, the messenger god will work his way out of any remaining Neptunian illusions and help the Senate/House conference committee fashion a more reasonable and measured piece of legislation.

Or better yet, realize that you can’t fool all of the people all of the time, and jettison the measure altogether…

KEEP THE FAITH & YOU’LL FIND YOUR WAY HOME…

No matter what, we are all journeyers—all heroes, regardless of whether we “own” this label or not. And though currently Neptune’s got many of us feeling lost, unsure of our footing, wondering if Canada is still accepting more immigrants or if eventually we’ll have to uproot to farther away, this is my reminder to you that you’re not alone!

Let’s all hold tightly onto our faith & rest assured that ultimately all will come clear…meanwhile, I thought perhaps this song might soothe us in the interim.

The Regeneration Cycle

There is no zodiacal sign more indicative of the cycle of death and rebirth than Scorpio. Metaphorically, Scorpio’s the archetypal energy through which regeneration takes place.

And regeneration may take many forms—physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. Like water rushing in to fill an empty space, Scorpio regenerative energy will go where it’s needed most.

The Scorpio New Moon at 26’19”–ruled by Pluto, lord of the underworld (in modern astrology), and the war god Mars (traditional astrology)–perceives death not as final or finite, but rather as metamorphosis, or the gateway into another stage…

Life and death are intertwined, two sides of one coin, part of the duality of the universe, as many of our great sages, poets, philosophers, psychologists, and metaphysicians knew and understood. Many believe that without such duality the “reality” of physical incarnated life could not exist.

This polarity between the energy of the soul (Scorpio) and the value of the physical body (Taurus) was prominent in the last lunation—November 3-4th Taurus Full moon.

Buried so far below this level of the incarnated “real” world, often this part of our psyche stays hidden in shadow for the duration of a person’s lifetime on the physical plane.

Scorpio New Moon Square Solar Eclipse Degree

This Scorpio New Moon takes on greater import because it squares the August 21 total solar eclipse degree 28’43” Leo. This is a “sensitized” degree to the extent that when planets pass through it, it can reactivate the energies of the eclipse.

Now, however, since this Scorpio New Moon degree squares the sensitized Leo eclipse point, it’s important to review what might have happened in your life since August 21–or beginning about three weeks before.

Whether you were affected by August’s solar eclipse was determined by the house in which it occurred and the aspects (if any) it formed to planets or important points in your personal horoscope or natal chart.

It’s possible there was a major effect, though it’s equally possible you felt and experienced nothing at all. It all depends on how closely tied in that eclipse degree was to your natal chart, and how tightly tied in the Scorpio New Moon degree is to your chart now…

A square is a frictional, harder-edged, less visible aspect that asks us to deal with something on an internal level, something often we’re not able to view clearly. Often frustrating at first, the square aspect represents an issue we must work our way through in order to integrate two particularly unconscious or not very harmonious energies.

Leo, the sign of the August solar eclipse, is creative, fun-loving, romantic, and prone to liking the spotlight, while Scorpio prefers to keep things hidden, play it close to the vest, demands loyalty, and is power-oriented.

The eclipse asked us to determine where we doubt ourselves in terms of expressing our true Leonine, solar, subjective, individual nature, and urged us to allow our light to shine without fear, shame, or blame.

Rising To The (Internal) Challenge

The point is that at this lunation you’ll be experiencing an internal challenge, as that’s the way all squares–or 90-degree angles between planets–roll.

This Scorpio New Moon’s square to the Leo eclipse degree adds a footnote that’s centered around the issue of empowerment vs. disempowerment. It asks us all to ponder how we may hold ourselves back from truly shining in the world as a result of past disempowerment.

Often, we are our own worst enemies when it comes to freedom of creative expression. We worry that others will judge, ridicule, banish, or somehow render us impotent through their words and/or actions.

Contemplate this: do you show others the “real” you, or do you hide, ashamed and worried that others will judge, or worse yet, condemn you for being who you really are?

Ultimately, especially if we’ve been subjected to harsh judgment through early life or prior lifetimes, we internalize this energy and become our own worst judge, jury, and executioner, at least metaphorically speaking.

However, this Scorpio New Moon tells us we can overcome such disempowerment and rise to the task of being our true creatively expressive selves.

How?

By allowing ourselves to relax and enjoy simply being in the moment–without any attachment to the result of that moment…only then can we understand the creative process that Leo archetypal energy represents.

A good question we can all ask ourselves at this Scorpio New Moon’s square to the Leo eclipse degree is: “what takes us out of the moment?”

If it’s worry about the future, or regret or anger about the past, we’re being asked to realize that we cannot truly call this “living.”

When this sign engages in creative thinking and expression in the form of the arts, play, romance, games of chance, sports, etc., it does so with one aim: to allow us to create with the reckless abandon of a child—unfettered and free of (self) judgment.

Mars Square Pluto: You’ve Got The Power!

The energy of this Scorpio New Moon is compounded by the waxing Mars square to Pluto. Again, a square is an internal conflict, something which needs reconciliation within.

Pluto is a force to be reckoned with—we astrologers often liken it to the nuclear bomb in its ability to destroy the old to make room for the new. As mentioned in previous newsletters, Pluto is an evolutionary force. It can’t be stopped, though it can be worked with.

When Mars approaches Pluto through a square aspect, he’s asking us to stand up for what we believe, feel, or know in our bones is “right.” Pluto, however, is not always in exact agreement and so he’ll put up a fight by trying to disempower our ability to choose how we go forward.

Mars is the sign of male sexuality. There is no coincidence, at least in this astrologer’s opinion, that we’re continuing to witness—as Jupiter transits through Scorpio until November 2018–the expansion of the collective’s consciousness through the speaking up of victims of sexual abuse.

This square of Mars in partnership-oriented Libra, pitted against the strong, ambitious, authoritarian will of Pluto in Capricorn, sums up nicely the recent revelations by so many women (& some men) who’ve shared publicly their past disempowering experiences of sexual abuse–particularly at the hands of those wielding POWER.

Remember, Pluto is about power; Mars about the personal will. When Mars tries to speak, Pluto shouts him down, denies, or finds some other way to try to manipulate, weaken, or otherwise render him impotent.

Sound familiar?

The resistance to such bullying is what’s on the table for us all during this Scorpio New Moon and just following, as this Mars square Pluto exacts on November 19.

Seeds of Regenerative Healing

The antidote presented by this Scorpio Full Moon lies in its ability to grant us the power to plant new seeds of self-empowerment.

Like natal Pluto in Scorp Taylor Swift’s lyric in the song/video posted below, we can answer our internal telephones by saying “hello? No, I’m sorry, [fill in your name here] can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, because she’s dead!”

Death is not always literal and when we think of death in terms of metamorphosis and that all physical things must die in order for something new to be born, we realize that this Scorpio New Moon’s offering us a most wonderful opportunity.

What’s that?

To allow our fears to die and be reborn as the courage, compassion, and the trust necessary to be loyal–to ourselves. This is from where we may all draw power moving forward…

Where in your life has the August 21 Leo solar eclipse called you to come out from hiding fearfully under your bushel and shine your light? Where has fear held you back from taking center stage?

The Scorpio New Moon says now’s the time to think about what was cut off, stymied, suffocated, or otherwise prohibited through overpowering forces, and to plant new seeds of regenerative energy.

Like a worm which, when cut in half regenerates into wholeness, we are all capable of transforming our wounded parts into something new.

As Mars approaches the square to Pluto NOW, it will benefit us all to contemplate where we no longer want to stay silent, bury our hurt, anger, humiliation, or rejection, and can exhibit the strength to sally forth with renewed vigor and life…

…not because we seek revenge or retribution, but because we want to HEAL…

Transforming Values Redux

Venus in Scorpio’s exact sextile to Pluto on November 21 (waxing in strength at this Scoprio New Moon) presents us once again (as at the November 3-4 Taurus Full Moon) the opportunity to review and transform our value system–you know, the ones based on that which provide us pleasure. The Sun’s entrance into the sign of Sagittarius several hours later on November 21 will lighten things up a big, as Sagittarius is ruled by expansive, optimistic, the-glass-is-always-half-full Jupiter. But with Jupiter currently transiting through Scorpio for the next year, the Sun’s mission now is still to help ferret out that which is hidden in order to bring it into the light…

Both Venu’s sextile to Pluto and the Sun’s sign change will be followed by Venus’s square to the transiting Nodes, exact on November 22–the same day Neptune stations direct at 11’28” degrees Pisces.

Venus in Scorpio asks us how we want to transform our values so that they more closely represent not only our egoic value system but that of our true soul, and its square to the transiting nodes indicates that this is still up for review.

We may make headway now in determining whether what’s familiar is what we value, of if there are other more important things that make our soul truly sing…

Meanwhile, Neptune’s station direct will set off a period during which–until mid-June 2018–we may bridge the gap between fantasy and reality, & thus render ourselves better able to discern how we may move forward regeneratively.

Note Swift’s Scorpionic lyric in the song below:

“But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time,

Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time!”

Let’s say goodbue to disempowerment, & own our own power, speak our truth, and shine our light brightly out and into the world in a meaningful way!

“I don’t like your little gamesDon’t like your tilted stageThe role you made me playOf the fool, no, I don’t like you

I don’t like your perfect crimeHow you laugh when you lieYou said the gun was mineIsn’t cool, no, I don’t like you (oh!)

But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of timeHoney, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the timeI’ve got a list of names and yours is in red, underlinedI check it once, then I check it twice, oh!

Ooh, look what you made me doLook what you made me doLook what you just made me doLook what you just made meOoh, look what you made me doLook what you made me doLook what you just made me doLook what you just made me do

I don’t like your kingdom keysThey once belonged to meYou asked me for a place to sleepLocked me out and threw a feast (what?)

The world moves on, another day, another drama, dramaBut not for me, not for me, all I think about is karmaAnd then the world moves on, but one thing’s for sureMaybe I got mine, but you’ll all get yours

TIME TO LET GO OF FAMILIAR SUFFERING

We know full moons are always a time of release. We also know that, at its core, the Taurus archetype is about value.

When I say “value,” I mean that this archetype, above all–because it relates to the earthy Taurean concept of the physical body–encompasses within it the concept that it’s through our physical five senses that we derive pleasure.

And what makes us feel good becomes that which we value.

Often, however, what makes us feel good does so because it is familiar.

Say, for example, that if you have an argument with someone. You feel better if you eat some chocolate or a piece of cake, or anything sweet that makes you forget your troubles and/or dispels or distracts you from your anger or frustration.

Essentially, you value taste as a way to please yourself out of a confrontational or—shall we say—less pleasing experience.

Here we have a scenario where it might be healthier to replace our old familiar pattern of reaching for something to eat—something that tastes good and therefore pleases us when we feel angry, sad, abandoned, or any other negative emotion—with a different pattern of behavior. Say taking a walk or talking it out with someone who’ll listen, understand, and offer positive feedback.

THE SHADOW KNOWS…

The Sun in Scorpio is all about change. But it’s not about sudden change. Rather it’s the Scorpio reminder to us all that we must evolve through adaptation or we’ll become extinct.

Ruled by the planet Pluto, known as Hades, the god of the underworld to the Greeks, this is not exactly someone you want to mess with, at least on a regular basis.

There’s a kind of “you can run but you can’t hide” quality to Scorpio energy, which—if it finds you’ve been ignoring or denying your need for change or adaptation can become ruthless.

Many of us modern astrologers don’t really go there, we use words like “transformation” and “change” and “new perspectives,” and all these are completely valid. In fact, “transformation” IS the major keyword for Scorpio energy.

So, when the Sun is in Scorpio, which it has been since October 22/23 (depending on your time zone), and will be until November 22, we know that at least a part of our ego identity is being asked to die in order to be reborn again.

This happens on an annual basis, and because Pluto is a planetary energy that registers with us on the level of the subconscious rather than the conscious mind, we get that some transformation in our individual lives will be more momentous than others…at least on an annual basis, since the Sun is in Scorp for a month every year.

WHAT’S YOUR SHADOW REALLY LOOK LIKE?

Just before the Sun moved into Scorpio, Jupiter moved from partnership-oriented but potentially polarizing and polarizingly indecisive Libra energy on October 10. The two met up on October 26—a fortuitous kind of meeting between the king of the gods and the Sun in the archetypal sign of the underworld.

This told us we had a shot at making the best out this year’s transformative energy at this time of year, primarily by allowing Jupiter’s expansive energy to cast light on the dark bits of our psyches—the parts often we keep hidden, both from ourselves and others…

Both Scorpio and Taurus are fixed signs: they like to get the job done, but they can get stuck, remain stagnant or fixated, depending on the natal position of any planets/angles in these two signs and the houses ruled or influenced by Pluto and Venus in your chart.

Scorpio says “change or be changed,” or run the risk of becoming obsolete, which is a kind of death. And Taurus says “I’m very happy right here on my sofa with my bon bons, thank you very much, and while I might entertain the idea that change is ultimately necessary, I think I’ll do it later.”

So, the Taurus Full Moon, as with all full moons, carries a double message: one is that it shows us the high side of the opposite polarity of Scorpio energy, and as such it reminds we can’t stay in a state of transformation forever.

On the other hand, the Taurus Full Moon asks us to get in better touch with our body, to physically ground ourselves as part of the physical, tangible, concrete world and BECOME.

LETTING GO OF FAMILIAR VALUES

As the Scorpio Sun asks us to evolve, the Taurus Moon reminds us that to do this we might have to examine–and jettison–some of our previously held “values.”

When I say “values” I mean, again, that which give us pleasure.

Taurus, at its core, is related to our five physical senses, and through our reception and perception of such sensory experience–sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste–we become aware of our likes and dislikes.

This then translates into what we believe, or feel, both consciously and intuitively, is of value to us.

The Moon, after all, is an energy based around memory, particularly from our earliest moments after we’ve physically incarnated on this Earth—but isn’t always necessarily representative of our soul’s inner “truth.”

So, if the Sun’s energy is transformative, and the Full Moon in Taurus opposes it, it asks us to release what no longer serves us in terms of old values…

…values to which we may cling, based on old familiar patterns that no longer fit our present life, and from which we may inadvertently be “suffering.”

And, in doing so, we may thereby usher in new, healthier, ones…

This means we have the opportunity at the Taurus Full Moon to let go of that which is familiar to us, but does not necessarily serve our future evolutionary growth.

VALUE TRANSFORMATION

How does one transform one’s values? Ah, that my friends is so very easy to say but ever so hard to do! We transform our values by contemplating what it is that really truly pleases us.

First, we can go deep through whatever mechanism works for us. Meditation, creativity (or being in the moment) and channeling the divine, or in this case, the Scorpionic energies which may be showing us the taboos embedded in our psyche’s unconscious in ways that keep us afraid of allowing them to surface into consciousness.

The fear that if people knew what we’re REALLY like, what we’re REALLY thinking deep down inside–in short, the truth—they will neither like nor accept us and, worse yet, might run us out of town on a rail, is what we’re asked to let go of now.

Lunations—meaning New and Full Moons, which occur approximately every 14 days–are transits. Transits trigger our natal patterns or energies.

In order to answer the question for oneself, one must look to see in what house or houses the Taurus Full Moon occurs, and what messages those houses have for us.

Similarly, always we can look at whether or not any particular lunation is touching any of our natal planets or other sensitive chart points. That will give you a fuller picture of where you might go to discover which values are no longer of use to you as you attempt to move forward toward your highest karmic destiny in this lifetime.

This lunation is helped or hindered by whatever it touches, positively or negatively. However, it reminds us, as do all transits to our natal chart’s energies, that the time is ripe for change or transformation!

SELF-VALUE IS WHO YOU ARE, NOT WHAT YOU OWN

While the Taurus Full Moon reminds us that although transformation through the evolutionary process is all around us and in the air right now, still we must take time to consider what our soul values most.

Since our shadow side is that which we project onto each other, we know we’re being asked to go deep for this entire next year on just exactly how we can free ourselves through expanding our consciousness about this darker side.

A full moon is always an aspect of relationship. This Taurus Full Moon highlights the duality of the fixed archetypes of Scorpio’s watery, deep, intense, and potentially volatile but deeply loyal bonding against Taurus’s Venusian emphasis on the body, the five senses, the concrete physical world, and how determining what pleases us becomes that which we value.

Taurus provides us with a constant in a world surrounded by evolutionary change. But it also reminds us that if we cling too tightly to the things we think we value, be they material possessions, relationships, jobs, or anything else, we may deny ourselves the incremental slow evolution that Taurus is capable of demanding out of Scorpio’s need to continually transform.

When it comes to possessions, it’s easy to tie your own sense of self-worth into what you have. But Scorpio’s Sun reminds us that all things much change eventually, and Taurus can help us manifest slow, less upsetting, change.

SEXUAL HEALING

At this lunation, Venus opposed Uranus, and we may have experienced a sudden flash of insight based on an unexpected happening, be it through relationship or any other outer circumstance.

Should you have experienced something shocking leading up to this Taurus Full Moon, something that made you feel a little bit like you’ve been on a sinking ship, or the fire’s just shown up at your door— you may have asked yourself “what do I grab and what do I leave behind?”

The answer to that question is that you take with you what you know deep down is important because it’s part of your soul’s overall sense of who you are and what you truly value…

At the same time, the Scorpio Sun sextiled spiritual, dreamy, psychically-oriented Neptune in Pisces, while the Moon trined the same planet, also known to encompass energy related to confusion, illusion, and delusion.

These energies provided us either with easy opportunities to follow our intuitively guided psyche’s sense of the truth north of our value system, or they obscured our need to let go through the illusory sense that we can keep our soul’s true needs hidden from consciousness…

Saturn’s square to Chiron reminds us that any internalized familiarity based on restrictive or overly repressive people or circumstances in our early lives–i.e., those embedded as “familiar”–may now be revisited in order to be released.

And Mercury’s trine to wounded healer Chiron allows us to give voice to any wounds to our inherent value system based on this oppression. Wounds sustained through that which we LEARNED is SUPPOSED to please us and make us feel good, rather than that from which our soul derives true pleasure.

Scorpio, a sign of deep bondedness and loyalty, also represents sexuality. The highest form of sexual expression is an intimate relationship with a significant other with whom there is a deep, loyal, unbreakable bond of trust.

Taurus’s value system reminds us that part of that trust comes through our attachment to our physical bodies and the fact that it’s about discovering what pleases us by allowing ourselves to receive on the physical plane.

Any relationship not tied to both physical pleasure and an unshakable trust is up for introspection now as we reevaluate that which serves–or doesn’t–our true self…

My advice? Allow the energy of this Taurus Full Moon–as it wanes over the next two weeks–to release what holds you back from uncovering the division between what your mind or ego THINKS it values and what the infinite wisdom of your soul KNOWS is of true value to you…

Black Hole Sun Won’t You Come

Many are approaching the upcoming 28’53” Leo New Moon Total Solar Eclipse on August 21 with trepidation.

Why so fearful?

Well, first, astrologers tell us eclipses are times of sudden, unpredictable change. And let’s face it, a good portion of us do not like change!

Secondly, the whole fact that the Moon blots out the light of the Sun for several minutes—traditionally viewed as scary—elicits in us either negative vibes or the idea that it’s a “bad” omen.

The truth is that eclipses are neither good nor bad, as I noted at the August 7 partial lunar eclipse @15 Leo. Just as with ALL movements of the planets throughout the heavens, an eclipse has import only if it’s “touching” a planet or sensitive point in your birth chart or horoscope.

If not, they may be meaningful, yes, but in subtler, less drastic, and not as easily recognizable ways.

When any given eclipse does not hit your chart hard (meaning aspects an important planet, angle, or other sensitive spot—or triggers major configurations in your chart related to these points) the import lies solely with the meaning of the house in which the eclipse falls for you.

If it does impact you in a more major way, you’ve likely already begun to feel it in one way or another. The trick is to recognize this…

In Disguises No One Knows…

The energy of any eclipse can be felt prior to the actual event, as well as long after.

To highlight the truth of this, all one need do is look at the collective energy around them.

On August 12—the same day Mercury stationed retrograde in Virgo—we saw the tragic death of peaceful protester Heather Heyer and numerous injuries of other participants when a neo-Nazi protester sped his car through a crowd protesting a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

In addition, two police officers monitoring the situation from above were killed when their helicopter crashed.

Thirteen people died and up to 100 others from 34 different countries were wounded on Las Ramblas, a major tourist avenue in Barcelona, Spain, by terrorists on August 17.

And one death and five injuries resulted in Cambrils, Spain, an hour from Barcelona, when five attackers there attempted a second terrorist strike shortly before being shot dead by police.

Twenty thousand people took to the streets in Boston August 19 (and other U.S. cities) to protest the kinds of hate speech being spewed by those whose original rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, resulted in Heyer’s death and numerous others’ injuries.

These protests, particularly the one in Boston, spurred by a free speech rally by white supremacists, ended peacefully after effectively shutting out the efforts of those who choose to use their right to speak freely to express hate. A similar rally in Berlin, Germany, eclipsed those with hate-filled messages there on the same day.

This protest was also one against U.S. President Donald Trump’s wavering reluctance to condemn those whose hate speech provoked the killing of Heyer and the injuries of so many others in Charlottesville more than a week ago.

Funny Thing About Eclipses

See how an eclipse works?

Terrorists and white supremacists sought to eclipse not only the voices but the rights to existence of those they do not like through hate speech—which they have the right to do, under U.S. law at least. The reaction?

Thousands throughout the country (and some abroad) fought back by eclipsing (read: overshadowing) NOT the RIGHT of hate-spewers to speak their minds, but the message coming from those minds…

Thus, the attempted “eclipsers” found themselves “eclipsed” by the counterbalancing voices who shifted the focus of their argument onto a different plain—one that happens to reflect the majority’s peaceful beliefs rather than that of a hate-filled minority!

Heaven Sent Hell Away…

As the Leo New Moon Total Solar Eclipse looms larger, we’re right now in the dark of the Moon, the time when the Moon approaches her return to the Sun as part of her monthly cycle. It’s now that things become quiet and still, as we burrow down and begin to say goodbye to the old month in preparation for greeting a new—future–one.

It pays now to contemplate what part each of us individually play in the collective energy that resulted in violence. Where does the clash of ideas and/or ideologies lie within each of us individually?

And how can we withdraw the projection onto others of our shadow energies—the ones that lie hidden, unbeknownst to us, but that get projected out and reflected back to us in the form of another or others’ hurtful, hateful, or—worse yet—disinterested energies?

In short, what needs to be eclipsed in your life?

The upcoming Leo New Moon Solar Eclipse lands on the transiting North Node—like a giant arrow in the sky pointing toward the collective’s future—and is part of a grand fire trine between the Leo Sun & Moon, Mars, Uranus, & Saturn.

Meanwhile, retrograde Mercury in Virgo still opposes transiting Neptune—the planet of illusion, confusion, & delusion–making all things communication, transportation, local business, & sibling & near family-related potentially problematic. Jupiter’s once again approaching an opposition (exact on September 27) to transiting Uranus, as Mars forms a sextile to Jupiter, while Venus moves into a square to Uranian change-making energy.

WTF?

Jupiter opposed Uranus back on March 2, and carries an energy that seeks release from any limitations, be those “limitations” perceived accurately or not. And Mars sextile Jupiter, along with the grand fire trine, provides the impetus behind any action—the wind behind our sails, as they say… The Leo New Moon is about courage. It takes courage to go out into the streets and peacefully protest what one deems to be bad, negative, evil, etc.

What it pays to remember, however, is that we have met the enemy and he is us! The enemy is our collective shadow which, when we go boldly out to face it, helps us to withdraw such a projection. However, when we fight fire with fire in terms of physical violence, we lose any moral high ground, disrespect our desire for peace, and set wheels in motion that may not go in the direction we’d originally hoped.

Venus square Uranus is a fleeting energy, but one that’s waxing at this Leo New Moon Total Solar Eclipse into exact on August 24. There’s likely to be some sort of shock to one’s value system (if it hasn’t happened already!), or a sudden, unexpected event that, in the end, will be related to the need to tweak, adjust, rethink (Mercury’s still retrograde, remember!) something about one’s own value system…

Whenever sudden change occurs, it’s the external world telling us our inner energy needs adjustment. Uranus does not like stagnation, so when Venus squares the planet of thunderbolts and lightning, best to pay attention to what’s highlighted, as this is the area that needs some kind of change…

What is it that you value that needs some tweaking in the peace, harmony, & love realm: a relationship, your own creativity, something to do with finances?

Where do you hold on too tightly (Venus’s Taurus particularly dislikes change, while Libra is known to equivocate and avoid confrontations) to people, ideas, material things?

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow–Or Will It?

When I was a child, my mathematics & physics professor father told me about induction, or the theory that we humans believe the Sun will rise every day simply because that’s what we’ve experienced our entire lives.

However, “there’s no proof that the Sun will come up tomorrow,” he told me,explaining that history IS our only “proof,” not any scientific study.

What we’re being asked to do at this Leo New Moon Total Solar Eclipse is to have FAITH that the Sun—despite being blotted out in the sky for a total of 2 minutes & 40 seconds on August 21—will indeed not only become visible but also rise again tomorrow.

Where the eclipse occurs in our individual charts/lives is bound to carry the same message: Where do we doubt ourselves? In what way do we run scared when it APPEARS our “reality” is shifting? How can we express our true natures if there’s possibly not going to be any tomorrow?

These are thoughts likely to run through the mind—conscious or unconscious—of us all at the actual moments of the eclipse.

My suggestion? The two minutes and forty seconds of this eclipse is the time to meditate, pray, or whatever it is you can do to clear your mind of everything and simply tap into collective energy and balance it with peaceful calming energy of your own.

Together we are strong. The rallies this past week or two have proven that. Love triumphs over hate. Unfortunately, sometimes we need reminders as a collective to remain vigilant in protecting the rights of

ALL…

If not, we’re simply adding our own prejudices to collective energy…

What? Two Leo New Moons In One Month?

The first Leo New Moon on July 23 highlighted for us the fact that the zodiacal sign of Leo represents the highest potential manifestation of our most creative individual solar selves.

Seen now in retrospect, it’s our “I coulda been a contender!” energy that asked us to stand apart from the group and to shine our light as brightly as possible.

Why?

Because it is our birthright to do so! Often, however, early life experiences–including negative wounding and insecurities hung over from past lives—have left us fearful.

Fearful of what?

Criticism, judgment, rejection, abandonment, death—you name it, the list goes on… You can be sure that whatever fear you resonate to is #1 on top of your list of what keeps you from shining as brightly as you can.

The universe, benign as always, presents us this month with a second Leo New Moon—a second chance to plant the seed that can blossom into your solar individuated self!

In other words, it’s simply the universe providing yet another opportunity to view your life from a slightly different perspective and to confirm a deeper faith in what you believe truly defines you and your own specialness.

Which of course gives us all—on either a conscious or subconscious level—a raison d’etre. Without that, the world becomes a dark and gloomy place.

Often, it’s the gloominess of our internal world projected out and onto others that creates our external environment…the key is to recognize that it’s our own internal gloom, resistance, or other negative energies that get expressed back to us by others…

We were tasked on July 23– and are tasked again now–because the universe is benign and has no vested interest in making anyone of us suffer—to face any internal darkness and show the courage to forge through it to the other side.

On a psychological level, this means through the integration of the conscious ego mind and the unconscious/subconscious portion of our psyches so that we can become whole, healthy, happy individuals who can then bring our solar individual gifts to the collective or the group.

AND that’s why it’s important to remember at this Leo New Moon Total Solar Eclipse that we ALL have the right to free speech, no matter how hateful it appears to be.

Still don’t get it?

Everyone is equal. Everyone has rights. Period. ‘Nuff said…

This King Must Die?

Eclipses have traditionally been about kings and leaders, not the “common folk,” as I pointed out in my August 7 Leo New Moon Partial Lunar Eclipse newsletter.

You may have heard that many astrologers predict that this eclipse foretells the demise of Donald J. Trump as president.

I cannot say if he will stay or go, and if the latter how long before he vacates the White House, but what I do know is that this eclipse will impact him strongly. It’s on his Leo Ascendant, 12th House Mars in Leo, and natal fixed star of kings, Regulus, marking him as someone—born on a Sagittarius Full Moon lunar eclipse—destined to have his appearance affected in some way now.

Again, the tell-tale signs of public opinion shifts are there already, highlighted in particular by Trump’s seeming inability to speak out against those who demand the right to walk through the streets screaming their hatred for/at others. A good leader speaks for and to the majority, while providing equal platforms under the law for minorities as well. It pays to remember the definition of minority, as per Merriam Webster: “A group in society distinguished from, and less dominant than, the more numerous majority.”

Minority is neither good nor bad. It’s simply small(er.)

When a leader speaks out in favor of a minority, he aids that group, regardless of its intent. This CAN be considered the morally correct thing to do. However, when that minority seeks to destroy other minorities and/or the majority, a leader must speak out against—not the minority—but the minority’s message. Failure to do so may in fact mean that the majority (made of up itself of several minorities) may “eclipse” the leader at the top of it all—in this case the one ultimately responsible for aiding and abetting hate speech.

And so, it remains to be seen whether the majority viewpoint in this case—that love trumps hate—“eclipses” that of the current Administration’s steadfast denial of facts and support of those who espouse hatred.

Either way one thing’s for sure: this king must (change or) die…

Wash Away The Rain…

Every movement in the heavens is an opportunity for each of us within the collective to wake up and become more conscious. Those who resist the call of the heavens have their burdens to deal with, just as do those trying to proactively become more conscious…

The key is in the choices we make about how we interpret our own reactions around what seemingly happens to us and to begin to recognize that our own external reality is born of our own internal energies.

Life goes on, and we astrologers believe we hold a particular set of keys that can unlock how each of us (and our friends, clients, or those for whom we delineate charts) choose to deal with our own lives.

However, each individual life makes up a part of the collective, and that’s the lesson of what we’re seeing now…

Hold onto your hats for the Sun’s move into Virgo August 22, Saturn’s direct station August 25, and Jupiter’s move into Scorpio October 10, when life may begin to reflect what happens as expansion of the collective shadow’s even darker side begins to reflect back to us all…

“Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof.”~ Khalil Gibran